1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to an improved batting or practice hitting tee. More particularly, the invention relates to a baseball or softball practice or hitting tee which can be adjusted by the coach or hitter to many positions with respect to the home plate.
2. Description of the Background
In the game of baseball, one of the most difficult skills to master is hitting. First, a hitter must be able to coordinate the swing of the bat with the location of the ball so that good contact with the ball can be made while swinging the bat. Once this is mastered, the hitter must next learn to make good contact with the ball at the various positions at which it may cross home plate, from an inside pitch to an outside pitch, and from a high pitch to a low pitch, and various combinations of these two variables.
In development of these skills, the trainer or coach uses a baseball tee to support the ball at a selected height above a representation of the baseball home plate. With the ball so positioned, the batter can practice swinging thereat to assist in the process of coordinating his hands with his eyes and in the development of his wrist and arm muscles.
Various practice batting tees have been developed in the past for this purpose. The practice tees developed to date, however, have had various limitations which have limited their overall acceptance in the baseball world. In some cases, the tees have not been adjustable and different tees must be used for different hitting zones. In other cases the tees have been partially adjustable, but not able to cover all the hitting zones. In many cases, the tees have been adjustable, but the adjustment has required considerable time and manipulation to place the tee in the desired position. In other cases, the tees have been very expensive to produce, and the cost has been prohibitive for many of the teams.
Exemplary of the prior art are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,489,411: 4,709,924; 4,664,374: and 4,383,686.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,489,411 to Morelli et al, for example, disclose what is essentially a solid home plate and uses a horizontal support member having a slot along its length. Morelli et al attempt to provide additional tee adjustment by causing the slotted member to pivot about a single point anchored in the home plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,924 to Wilson et al also disclose a slotted horizontal support member which is used in a manner similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,489,411. However, instead of pivoting around an end point of the horizontal arm as disclosed in Morelli et al, Wilson et al cause the horizontal arm to pivot about a centralized pivot point 46 which itself is in the slot of the horizontal arm.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,374 to Groves also uses a slotted horizontal support member, but which also uses a pivoting L-shaped member attached to the slotted support member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,686 to Cardieri shows two or more parallel plates using spacers therebetween to effect positioning of the tee.
Each of the foregoing prior art batting tees has a common disability, in that none of them, alone or in combination, suggest the use of one or more slots in the home plate itself, used in conjunction with the slotted horizontal support member to optimize and facilitate the placement of the batting tee with respect to the home plate. The prior art which causes the horizontal arm to pivot about a single point, as characterized by Morelli et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,489,411 and Wilson et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,924, is further deficient in that only a slight pressure to the vertical tee can cause the horizontal arm to pivot and thus create an unwanted re-positioning of the tee.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved batting tee having an increased variability of the batting tee with respect to the home plate.
It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved batting tee have increased stability of the batting tee with respect to the home plate.